According to modern physics, our universe originated from a Big Bang through which everything in the universe was born, and the solar system and our planet are no exception.
The earth is very ordinary in the universe, but it has bred tens of millions of species, making the earth very special.
In particular, the birth of intelligent species such as humans makes the earth seem more "unique".
Humanity is like the "darling of God", countless near-perfect coincidences have allowed human beings to appear, and in the 4.6 billion years of evolutionary history of the earth, even if there is any slight change, human beings may not be born.
But from the essence of life, human beings are no different from tens of millions of other species on the earth, and they all belong to carbon-based life.
Overall, carbon-based life is quite fragile, especially once it is separated from the protection of the earth, the fragility of carbon-based life is completely exposed and may die at any time.
Another life form in the eyes of scientists is more powerful, silicon-based life.
While the concept of silicon-based life currently exists only in the assumptions of scientists, many scientists are convinced of their existence.
So what kind of life form is silicon-based life? How powerful are they?
First, let's take a brief look at earth's life forms, carbon-based life.
When the Earth was first born, it was also a dead breath, just like Mars today.
A billion years after the birth of the earth, the most primitive life forms appeared, and then there was a long evolutionary history of billions of years, starting from the most basic protein molecules, step by step evolving into a colorful life world, knowing the emergence of humans millions of years ago.
Maybe you didn't care, there are tens of millions of species on Earth, and these species are all made up of four elements, which are carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. Among them, carbon is the most basic element, which is why life on Earth is carbon-based life.
Today's human beings, with their super wisdom, have stood at the top of the earth's food chain. But whenever we look up at the stars, we can't help but sigh at the smallness of human beings. In the face of the vast universe, human beings can't even fly out of the small solar system, and we are very eager to explore the vast starry sky to see if there is any life there that is higher than that of humans.
As a result, various science fiction movies and novels have appeared more powerful life forms than humans, silicon-based life. Although scientists are not sure whether silicon-based life really exists, from the probabilistic analysis, the universe is so vast, the possibility of silicon-based life is still very large, and there may even be other life forms that we cannot imagine.
Why do scientists value silicon-based life so much over nitrogen-based life or other forms of life? It is important to note that both carbon and silicon are elements of the fourth main group, and the two have similar chemical properties.
Carbon-based life is a life based on carbon, just as silicon-based life is a life based on silicon, and the skeleton is based on silicon.
In many science fiction movies, the description of silicon-based life has a characteristic, that is, silicon-based life is unusually powerful, much more powerful than carbon-based life, not only has more human intelligence, but also has a super lifespan and the ability to adapt to the environment, and these points are the ultimate goal of human pursuit.
So how powerful is silicon-based life?
Humans rule the planet, but in reality we are quite vulnerable, with temperatures high and low. Human beings are not without natural enemies, and there are many natural enemies. Taking the new crown virus epidemic in the past two years, a small virus has such a big impact on human beings, which can be seen how vulnerable human beings are. This is only on Earth, and once in outer space, human vulnerability is even more obvious.
Compared with carbon-based life, silicon-based life is much more powerful. Scientists believe that the internal structure of silicon-based life is more stable, able to resist high-intensity cosmic radiation, as well as the invasion of viruses and bacteria.
Of course, the above is only the strength of the silicon-based life itself, and they are even more powerful than the intelligence of humans, because they may be the legendary "artificial intelligence"!
Artificial intelligence, everyone knows very well, our daily life can not be separated from the mobile phone and computer can be said to be "primary artificial intelligence", mobile phones and computers in the semiconductor raw material is silicon.
Artificial intelligence does not require metabolism, theoretically has unlimited capabilities and lifespan, which can be said to be an immortal existence.
The real development time of artificial intelligence technology is more than ten years, but the power of artificial intelligence has long been recognized by human beings, and human beings have been imitating the way of thinking of artificial intelligence. Especially in the World of Go, after alpha ARTIFICIAL defeated Lee Sedol and Ke Jie, it was thought that it was impossible for humans to catch up with AI.
So can such a powerful silicon-based life really exist?
In nature, due to the strong binding capacity of silicon and oxygen, it is difficult for silicon alone to exist, basically in the form of silica. At the same time, due to the large radius of silicon atoms and the weak binding force with electrons, it will also lead to silicon-based compounds that are not very stable and can only exist for a short time.
Another point is that the nature of silicon determines that silicon chains can only connect a dozen atoms, and it is difficult to form large molecules like carbon-based life. It is easier to break in water.
The above also determines that although silicon-based life is likely to be extremely powerful, their birth process will be difficult, or the probability is relatively small. It's hard to have something perfect in the universe.
But scientists, based on the nature of silicon, believe that silicon-based life can breathe freely in high-temperature environments, just like humans. It is difficult for them to survive in low temperatures.
But the so-called high temperature and low temperature are relative, and there is no lack of high temperature environment in the universe, and there are many high-temperature planets that make us feel terrible.
Maybe somewhere in the distant starry sky, there is such a hot planet with silicon-based life on it, and they are also looking for "aliens" like us!